Apparatus for sorting sheets



Oct. 23, 1934.

Filed Feb. 5, 1952 INVENTORS Patented Oct. 23, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE APPARATUS FOR SOBTING SHEETS Percy a. Hunter and LouisE. Endsley,Pittsburgh, Pa. said Endsley assignor to said Hunter ApplicationFebruary 5, 1932, Serial No. 591,109

Claims.

5 other materials.

At one stage in tin mill operations, sheets are fed from stacks,one-by-onato flattening rolls or to some other destination, and it is ofcourse necessary that defective sheets be sorted or thrown out. Thedefects j may consist in two sheets stuck together; front or rear edgesof certain sheets being folded over; excessively thick sheets, etc.

, One object of our invention is to provide an improved method andapparatus for automatically discarding or separating defective sheetsfrom those of uniform smoothness and. of proper thickness.

Another object of our invention is to provide a means and a method forsorting sheets that will efiectively sort out sheets of excessivethickness, or sort out sheets that are excessively thick in spots,whether such thicker spots are at the front or rear edges of the varioussheets, or at any other location in the sheet.

One form which our invention may take is shown in the accompanyingdrawing wherein Figure 1 is a sectional elevational view of sortlngmechanism; Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line II--II of Fig. 1, and Fig.3 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the sheetguidingmechanism of Fig. l is controlled.

The invention constitutes an improvement upon the apparatus shown in ourapplication Serial No. 409,05L(n0w Patent No. 1,850,108), and may beemployed in connection with the sheet-feeding mechanism of the saidpatent, or the sheets may be fed to the present apparatus in any othersuitable manner.

The sheets to be sorted are fed one-by-one across a table 5 to rolls 6and 7 by which they are advanced to-rolls 8 and 9, and across a movabletable or deflector 10. The deflector 10 is tiltably mounted ashereinafter explained, in order to direct certain of the sheets to adischarge station at rolls 12 and 13 and a conveyer 14 or to a dischargestation at rolls 15 and 16 and a conveyer 17, depending upon thethickness of the sheets and whether they contain thickened (Cl. zoo-es)of the sheets. The conveyer belt 14 carries the sheets to anysuitablepoint separate from that to which the sheets that enter upon theconveyer 17 are carried.

The rolls 6, 8, 12 and 15 idle on the rolls 7, 9, 1

13 and 16,v respectively, being driven through frictional contacttherewith or through frictional contact with sheets passing between therolls.

The deflecting table 10 is pivotally supported at its rear end upon theshaft or axle 18 of the roller 9, throughbars or sills 20 which aresecured to the underside'of the table.

Links 21 depend from the bars 20 and at their lower ends are connectedto levers 22 which at their rear ends are supported on fixed pivots 23.A rod 24 is pivotally connected at its ends to the levers,22,intermediate the ends' of said levers,

and carries at its mid portion a core or armature 25 whose lower endextends into a solenoid 26. Tension springs 27-tend to'normally raisethe forward ends of the leversv 22 and consequently the table 10, butthe table 10 is normally maintained in its lowermost position by thesolenoid 26 acting upon the armature 25, against the ten-'- sion of thesprings 27.

When the solenoid 26 is de-energized as hereinafter explained, thesprings will raise the table ing de-energization of the solenoid 26 topermit the table 10 to rise and direct the sheet to rolls 12 and 13and'the conveyer 14, as hereinafter more fully explained. The ends ofthe roll 6 have-connection with switch levers 32 and 33 that control theswitches 30 and 31 respectively, it-being understood that if the roll 6is raised beyond a predetermined point, as in the case of an excessivelythick sheet, or a sheet having a thick 10o spot, the range of movementof the levers 32 and 33 will be such as to open the switches 30 and .31.These switches 'are electrically connected in series, as shown moreclearly in Fig. 3, so that even if only one end of the roller 6 islifted, the control circuit is broken.

If two sheets are stuck together, orif a sheet has a thick spot on it,through some imperfection such as a turned-back edge or foreign matteradhered thereto, one of the switches 30-31,

until energized in a manner hereinafter explained.

The opening of the switch 38 breaks the circuit through the solenoid 26which is energized from a line 39. Simultaneous with the opening of theswitches 37 and 38, a switch 40 of the relay 35 is closed to close aportion of the circuit through the solenoid of a timing device 41.

After a thickened sheet has passed from between the rolls 6 and 7, theswitches 30 and 31 are permitted to close, thereby completing thecircuit for the solenoid of a timing device 41. Energization of thesolenoid 41 sets in operation an armature 42 which has connection withthe piston of a dash pot 43, and carries a switch member 44. Aspring-tensioned lever 45 has connection with the armature 42, a spring46 tending to return the armature to its lowermost position.

The dash pot retards or delays upward movement of the armature under theinfluence of the solenoid 41, thereby also delaying closing of the'switch 44. This period of delay is suilicient to permit the forwardedge of a sheet to enter between the rolls 12 and 13, so that eventhough downward movement of the table 10 then occurs, the deflectedsheet nevertheless will be carried to the conveyer 14, even though ithas not completelypassed from the table.

After the predetermined period of delay, the switch 44 is closed tocomplete the energizing circuit through the solenoid of the relay 35.Switch 37 of the relay 35 'is thereby closed to complete a holdingcircuit for the solenoid 35; switch 38 is closed to complete the circuitthrough solenoid 26, and to cause lowering of the table; and switch 40opens the energizing circuit of the timing device 41, which is restoredto normal position under the influence of the spring-tensioned lever 45,thereby opening the energizing circuit for the relay 35 at switch 44.

The distance between the rolls 6-7, and 12-13 is greater than thelengths of the longest sheets to be sorted, while the distance betweenthe rolls 8-9 and 12-13 is shorter than the shortest sheets, so thatsheets when they enter either the rolls 12-13, or the rolls 15-16 willhave passed completely from between the rolls 6-7, but not entirely fromthe rolls 8-9.

Since, as above-stated, the period of delay in closing of the switch 44is sumcient to permit a sheet which has passed from between the rolls6-7 to enter the rolls 12-13, and these pairs of rolls are farther apartthan the length of the longest sheets to be sorted, the period of delayis greater than that required for a sheet to travel a distance equal toits length.

As will be clear from the above description, A. sheet that is thickenedsomewhere near its forward edge will be directed between the rolls 12-13, by reason of the fact that the time element 41 will preventenergization of the solenoid 26 to retract the table until after theforward edge of the sheet has had time to enter between the rolls 12-13.If the sheet is of normal thickness in its forward portion andexcessively thick only adjacent to its rear portion, it willnevertheless be directed to the rolls 12-13, because the thickened rearportion of the sheet will operate the switches 30-31 in the mannerdescribed, and the circuit through the solenoid 26 immediately broken,to effect instant upward movement of the table 10. Therefore, no matterat what point throughout its surface a sheet is thickened, the table 10will be permitted to move upward with such rapidity and be retained inits upper position a sufiicient length of time to permit the forwardedge of the sheet to be caught between the rolls 12-13.

If the table 10 has been elevated by reason of a thick spot near therear edge of a sheet as heretofore described, and the front edge of asucceeding sheet is thickened, it would cause opening of the switches30-31 quite soon after they had been closed through passing of the rearedge of the preceding sheet from between the rolls, and while thesolenoid 26 is still de-energized. However, the circuit through the coilof the timing device 41 extends through the switches 30-31, and byreason of the opening of the switches by the thickened leading edge ofthe succeeding sheet, such circuit for the timing device 41 is broken,thereby permitting the spring 46 to quickly return the armature 42 toits lowermost position, thus preventing premature closing of the switch44 with resultant energization of the solenoid 26, and return of thetable 10, before the forward edge of said succeeding sheet has enteredthe rolls 12-13.

Since the timing device 41 is restored to its original, that is, to itsinitial timing position, by the said succeeding sheet, the table will bemaintained in deflected position for the additional period of time(which is its full timing interval) necessary for the said succeedingsheet to reach. the rolls 12-13.

In other words, if the circuit of the timing device 41 is broken by theoperation of switches 30-31 during the timing interval of the device,the device is restored to its original position, thus wiping out theportion of the timing interval that has elapsed, and again beingactuated for its full time interval before the table is returned.

We claim as our invention:-

1. Sheet-sorting apparatus comprising a pair of sheet-advancing rolls,one of which is radially movable by sheets of abnormal thickness, a sec=ond pair of rolls following the first-named rolls,

a third pair of rolls, a sheet deflector pivotally supported at one endadjacent to the second pair of rolls and operable transversely of thepath of travel of the sheets, to direct certain sheets to the third pairof rolls, a feeler device operated through radial movement of saidmovable rolls, means controlled by the feeler device for actuating thedeflector, and a timing device con-=- trolled by operation of the feelerin the opposite direction. for delaying movement of the deflector in onedirection for a period of time required for a sheet to travel from saidfirst pair of rolls to the third pair of rolls, the distance between thefirst and the third pair of rolls being greater than the length of thesheets.

2. Sheet-sorting apparatus comprising a pair of sheet-advancing rolls,one of which is radially movable by sheets of abnormal thickness, 9.second pair of rolls following the first-named rolls. a third pair ofrolls, a sheet deflector pivotally supported at one end adjacent to thesecond pair of rolls, and operable transversely of the path of travel ofthe sheets, to direct certain sheets to the third pair of rolls, afeeler device operated through radial movement of said movable rolls,means controlled by the feeler device for actuating the deflector, and atiming device controlled by operation of the feeler, for delayingmovement of the deflector in one direction for a period of time requiredfor a sheet to travel from the first pair of rolls to the third pair ofrolls, the distance between the first pair of rolls and the third pairof rolls being greater than the length of the sheets to be sorted, andthe distance between the first and second pair of rolls and the secondand third pair of rolls each being less than the length of the sheetstobe sorted.

3-. Sheet-sorting apparatus comprising a tiltable deflector having oneend movable trans versely of a given path of travel for sheets, meansfor advancing the sheets to be sorted across said deflector toward themovable end thereof, a pair of sheet-receiving rolls for receivingdeflected sheets from said deflector,a feeler device actuated duringmovement of an abnormal sheet past a point spaced from said rolls adistance greater than the length of the sheet, for actuating thedeflector, and a timing device initiated by actuation of said feelerdevice for maintaining said deflector in sheet-deflecting position untilthe leading edge of said abnormal sheet enters between said rolls.

4. Sheet-sorting apparatus comprising a tiltable deflector having oneend movable transversely of a given path of travel for sheets, means foradvancing sheets to be sorted across said deflector toward the movableend thereof, a pair until the leading edge of said abnormalsheet.

enters between said rolls, and means controlled by said timing device,for moving said deflector in the opposite direction during movement ofsaid abnormal sheet betwen said rolls.

5. Sheet-sorting apparatus comprising a tiltable deflector having oneend movable transversely of a given path of travel for sheets, means foradvancing sheets to be sorted across said deflector toward the movableend thereof, means for receiving sheets of abnormal thickness from saiddeflector in its sheet-deflecting position, for continued movement inanother path of travel, a feeler device spaced from said sheet-receivingmeans a distance greater than the length of the sheets, and actuated byabnormal thickness of a sheet at any point thereof, means operableimmediately upon actuation of said feeler device for tilting saiddeflector to sheet-deflecting position, means for moving said deflectorin the opposite direction, and means controlled by said feeler devicefor rendering said moving means ineffective to move said deflector untilsaid abnormal sheet reaches said sheet-receiving means.

' PERCY E. HUNTER. LOUIS E. ENDsLEY.

